Network connectivity and portable devices have revolutionized work and communication in today's modern economy. It no longer matters where some one physically resides in the world because work, communication, and information can flow to virtually anywhere on the globe.
Furthermore, portable devices are getting smaller, faster, and easier to use. In fact, many individuals now find their portable handheld devices indispensible and are often lost when they are without their handheld devices.
Conventional solutions provide mechanisms to secure portable devices. For example, existing management and software technologies can remotely active a self destruction process when a user reports a portable handheld device stolen or lost. This provides security by ensuring that the device is wiped clean of information that belongs to the user that lost the device or had the device stolen.
But, very few solutions exist when a user has not had a device lost/stolen. This occurs when a user forgets his/her handheld device but knows that it is secure and not lost. For example, a user may go on a business trip or be away from home and realize that the user's handheld device was left back at home or in the office. The user may need to do work or may need some vital information. Furthermore, the user may be expecting an important phone call and without the device there is little chance that the user can receive that call.
The user may need contact information, calendar information, documents, email, phone calls, etc. All this information would normally be instantly accessible to the user if the user was in physical possession of his/her handheld device.
Moreover, the situation where a user forgets his/her handheld device at home or the office is a far more frequent and likely scenario then the user actually losing or having the device stolen.
Thus, techniques are needed for uninterrupted usage and access to portable handheld devices when those devices are not physically in the possession of their owners.